Wofford Preview: Will Youth Be Served?

In co-operation with "MocsMania!", each day from October 23-November 3, there will be a basketball blogger/fan previewing their team in this space.


After back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, the experts expected Wofford to take a sizable tumble in the 2011-12 season due to heavy graduation loses.

But Mike Young guided the team to a respectable 19-14 overall record, including 12-6 in the SoCon. That was good for second place in the SoCon's South division. Wofford played in the CBI postseason tournament. The team was lead by senior guards Brad Loesing and Kevin Giltner, who both played about every minute of every game, and senior center Drew Crowell.

But now Young and his Terriers will face another tough challenge as those three players, who provided the lion's share of Wofford's scoring last season, are all now playing professionally in Europe. The only returning full-time starter is reigning SoCon freshman of the year Karl Cochran. This incredibly athletic 6-1 So. guard averaged 11.1 points and 4.7 rebounds and was tops on the team in both blocked shots and steals. Other key returnees include So. F Lee Skinner, a physical 6-6 inside player who lead the team in rebounding. Junior 6-7 F Aerris Smith, who started 19 games last season, continues to improve steadily and may be poised for a breakout year. Very athletic 6-6 So. F Jarrell Byrd showed flashes of brilliance in limited minutes last season and the Terriers think his ceiling is very high. Rounding out the returnees are 6-1 G John Swinton, who may see significant minutes at PG this season, and 6-3 G Taylor Wagener, a shooter and the team's only senior.

Read the entire preview here